The Last Word

Chapter 3

The weekend passed like always, far too quickly and filled with chocolate and chick flicks. Sabrina did try to convince me to go shopping with her on Saturday, there was apparently a sale on at Jenna's but none of the detailed, brightly colored dresses they had there suited me. I stuck to wearing navy, purple and black.

The office was quiet when I stepped out of the elevator. Half of my colleagues hadn't arrived yet and the other half had their heads down, scrolling on their mobile phones as I passed. I sat down at my desk, turned on my computer and sipped at my coffee.

All weekend I had planned and plotted, laughing manically as I thought about all the mistakes I could make to get William to request my removal from his editorial team. But now here, watching my emails load slower than ever, I wondered if I could really go through with it.

As we got our morning coffee together, Sabrina had warned me against backing out. "It's now or never. It's day one of working with him. If you don't do it now, it'll be even harder to try to leave once the work really begins." She had taken my arm in hers and led me to the elevator, her nails were lime green today, contrasting with her canary yellow dress. Yet no matter what she wore, she always looked sophisticated and savvy.

I pulled myself forwards in my chair, kicking my foot stool accidently. The sound echoed through the office. No-one looked up. I can do this. Even if I don't want to do this, I don't want to work with him more so. I have no choice, I mentally told myself.

My emails finally loaded. I had twelve altogether, the last one of them being from William sent last Friday night. Excitement coursed through me, despite his rudeness, he still was my favorite author. He had given me the first nineteen chapters he'd already written and wanted my opinion on them. Did he send this to Demi too? I checked the subject line but could not see Demi's email address. I opened the word document hastily. The story was incredible and intriguing just as I knew it would be.

Willow Jarring is commissioned to provide one new piece of artwork for a local gallery, this is the opening into the art world she's been waiting for. Then she finds out that the art gallery has also asked her all-time art nemesis, Theodore Rickson to provide a piece of artwork too. The two artists are long-time foes since they both attended art academy together, where Theodore criticized every single painting Willow did. Now they've been pitted against each other, tensions run high as they share a workshop, throwing insults as often as their brushstrokes lay upon their canvas'.

Interwoven throughout the main story was the subplot involving someone stalking Willow, who she believes might be an ex-boyfriend who has been trying to win her back, after cheating on her with a nude model. There was a reason after all, Willow vowed to never date a fellow artist, no matter how attractive Theodore is even when he has paint splotches on his nose.

The last chapter ended with Theodore walking her home, only to leave her half-way after getting a call. I sat back in my chair, wishing I had more to read. Could I really remain working with him just to fuel my inner obsession with his books? What if his personality begins to ruin the books for me? No, I couldn't let that happen. Which reminded me of what I had to do.

I saved my edits and comments into a blank word document. Typing a quick email response saying, "notes attached," I deliberately didn't attach my word document. Would this be enough? He seemed so prickly, so quick to judge that surely by forgetting to attach the document would be enough of a mistake? Before I could overthink it and stop myself, I pressed send. I took another sip of my coffee. There was sugar in my latte today, I had a sweet tooth but never took sugar in my coffee. I preferred to get my sugar intake through candies and desserts.

My computer pinged, making me jump. A new email sat there from William.

Your notes weren't attached, please forward them to me immediately.